reason to be obsessed with exercise. Physical activity is a powerful remedy for chronic pain often caused by arthritis, a condition that afflicts most of the patients who come through his door. When patients seek relief for their sore, stiff joints, Jannings offers a standard prescription: “I tell them to move their joints every day in every way.”
“Part of my lifestyle”
Every day in every way. Doctors all over the country are dishing out the same advice, but patients aren’t always ready to listen. Jane Kowalski,* an 83-year-old living in Baltimore, had a typical response when her doctor urged her to exercise. “I was skeptical,” she says. “My joints hurt, and I thought I was supposed to rest them.”
Kowalski had another reason to be wary of exercise. Way back when she was 50, she decided to learn how to ride a bike. Like any novice rider, she had a few spills. But her accidents weren’t child’s play. In one memorable wreck, she tore ligaments in her right knee. Even when the injury healed, she knew the pain wasn’t over. “My doctor said I’d get arthritis when I got old,” she says. “And seven years ago, I got old.”
As predicted, her right knee began to hurt. The rest of her body soon caught up. Osteoarthritis crept into her other knee, both hips, both wrists, both shoulders, and her neck. At times, the disease had such a grip on her that she couldn’t get out of bed. More than once, because of the pain, she was “trapped” in the bathtub or on the toilet seat. Kowalski had two options: She could do something about her arthritis or she could lose her independence.
Kowalski has decided to fight. She starts every day with stretches to warm up her muscles and ease the stiffness in her joints. Then she works her joints with a series of exercises, including leg lifts with weights strapped to her ankles. The exercises give her the strength and flexibility she needs to get out of bed — and get through the day. “I do them every day, come hell or high water,” she says. “It’s part of my lifestyle now.”
Made to Move
Joints are made to move, says Jannings. If a person rests a sore knee or hip or elbow day after day, the muscles that support the joint will